The Way They Are
by northernscarlet
Summary: 100 Themes challenge. Robin and Raven and the way they are. Introduction: "This is the beginning of a long list of unexplained and unexpected things that Raven would allow Richard to do."
1. Introduction

**_Title:_**_ The Way They Are_

**_Category: _**_Teen Titans_

**_Summary_**_: 100 Themes challenge. Robin and Raven and the way they are. _

**_Pairing:_**_ RxR_

**_Disclaimer:_**_ I owned nothing._

* * *

**Introduction**

Raven was alone and scared when she first met him, the one they called the Boy Wonder.

She was alone, frighten and terrified.

She likes to believe that she can handle herself and be her own protector. But, deep in her heart, she knows that she can't do this herself. She needed him, even though she didn't know it at the time or even wanted him.

(That's a lie. She will always need him. She will always want him. She was just too stupid and slow and dumb to realize it then.)

It was raining, like a cliché, and there he was, the boy underneath the streetlight. The glow of the yellow beam unveiled a hidden shadow, making him a speck of light born from eternal darkness.

He was dressed in a simple shirt and jeans. Nothing special. Nothing unusual. Just a boy.

An extraordinary boy.

Raven remembers the first thought she had about Robin: beautiful. He seemed to take the burdens of the planet on his shoulders, being Atlas and holding the world up.

(And hers.)

She could see pain and sadness in his eyes. The boy who have yet to hide behind the mask of Robin. The boy who was still Richard.

(Her Richard, even before she became aware of her possessiveness of her classification of him belonging to her.)

But, when he first laid eyes on her, Raven saw something changed. There was no more pain and sadness encroaching on his reality, spinning deep into his soul. Instead, she saw the beginning of conviction and resilience chasing away the mortality in his eyes.

Even before he crossed that street, before words were even spoken, and before he extended his hands to hers, Richard permitted and allowed her access into his soul. He saw in her something she had yet to see in herself. He saw her as a pathway for his redemption.

(Hers as well.)

And, believe it or not, she let him in.

This is the beginning of a long list of unexplained and unexpected things that Raven would allow Richard to do. When she looks back upon all of this a few years down the road, she will mark this as the commencement, inception or whatever of their vow with each another.

Even if it was one-sided at first.

He bought her to Bruce that night, asking Batman if she can stay. Richard said that he will take care of her. Make her safe. Make her feel like she was already home. Make her feel like she belonged somewhere and to someone.

Raven is still amazed that Bruce allowed her to stay, even after she finally had the courage to tell the Dark Knight why she was here on Earth in the first place.

She wanted to escape her faith. She did not want to be anyone's pawn. She wanted to be her own person.

She wanted to get to know the place her father deemed insignificant and therefore important enough to takeover and start his reign. She wanted to know why.

Of course, Raven did not tell Batman all of this. Just the important bits. She was lost. She was from another planet. She had nowhere to go.

Not until she met Richard.

His beauty is not because of his appearance. That is not why she thought of that word when she first saw him.

Raven could already feel from his presence from across the street that his view of the world is unblushingly hopeful, even before the sadness was chased from his eyes by the sight of her. He was literally the light at the end of her tunnel. At the end of everyone's tunnel.

She needed that. She needed that unrelenting hope. She needed someone to feel for her when she couldn't herself.

Richard also trusted her. He even said that while he was convincing Bruce to let her stay. He allowed its easy passage from his lips, saying the sentence that so few heard before and even fewer were the object of.

"I trust her with my life."

_He trusts me. _

She didn't trust him, not at that moment. Richard could sense that, even back then. Even young, he still have the skills of a trained detective.

Stubborn, too.

He didn't stop trying to get her to trust him. Not even when he became Robin, Batman's sidekick, nor when he became the leader of the Teen Titans.

He wouldn't stop trying. He wouldn't let her go. He wouldn't let her be.

This is what she thinks as she watch her friends try to save her from becoming the portal. They are here for her. They want to save her.

She doesn't know how she gotten this lucky. Oh, so very lucky.

She was born from darkness, and here they were. They want to be her light. They want to chase her demons away for her. They want to travel to the end of the world with her.

And that boy. That extraordinary boy.

Raven makes eye contact with Robin. He can sense that she is about to let go. He can feel his heart ripping into a million of pieces as she said, "I'm sorry."

_I'm sorry. _

Suddenly, her world bursts into white light and flashes of memories explodes beneath her eyelids. Memories of her friends, of her surrogate city, of her teammates, of him.

And then she feels it. His emotions.

Despair. Anguish. Love.

Hope.

There is still hope in him.

How is it that there is still hope in him?

In a time in which all hope was lost, all light extinguished, and all speck of good was gone, there is still faith from him in her.

Raven sees it. She feels it with every fiber of her being. The reason why he believes in her. The illogical reason why he always stand by her side. Always by her side.

It takes the end of the world for her eyes to be opened. And, of course, like another cliché, her heart.

Rationality is thrown out the window.

It is time to be irrational. Preposterous. Absurd.

Be herself.

Believe in him.

Richard.

Not as the masked leader of the Teen Titans, but as the boy who saved her that night.

Richard, the one who've always been there for her.

Richard, the one who is always there, even now when the world had ended.

Raven has trust in him to bring her back. She finally gives into the possibility that someone can save her. She wants him to prove her wrong. She wants him to show her that there are such things as happy endings.

Raven finally believes in Richard. It just took her too long to realize it. Or, maybe she has always known.

But, now...

_Save me. _

_I know you will. _

_I'm here. I'm always here. _

_..._

_I love you, too._


	2. Starvation

**Starvation **

"Just come," said Robin, as he extended his right hand to Raven. It was dark outside and he could hear two of his teammates 'trying' to cook in the kitchen. "Unless you want to eat one of Starfire's new concoction or Beast Boy's tofu turkey _and _chicken for dinner, then I seriously do not know you as I think I do."

Raven's eyes never wavered from the lines of her book, nor did she made any indication that she heard her leader even speak.

Robin playfully pouted at her lack of response. "Come on, Rae. I know how much you want to try that new Italian restaurant by the pizza place. I saw you eying it. It will be my treat."

Suddenly, a voice. "I rather starve than go out with you unaccompanied."

He dropped his hand. "I do not know what you are talking about."

She turned a page.

"Silent treatments do not work on me, Raven. You of all people should know that," said Robin with a tease in his voice. "And, I seriously do not know what you are talking about."

"I will not spell it out for you, bird brain. Either you get what I'm talking about, or you don't," replied Raven in her monotone voice, though Robin could hear a slight tension with each and every word spoken. "So leave. If you don't, suffer."

Memories of their last outing alone flooded his mind. Now that was a fun night. Robin tried to control the grin that is threatening to erupt on his face.

It failed.

"You can't be mad about that."

Raven's mouth formed a thin line as she refuses to acknowledge Robin's existence. She turned another page and held the book up so it'll cover Robin's face from her view.

Robin's grin grew. "Oh, you are. You are mad about that. That _incident._"

Raven closed her book with a loud thud and stood up. She glared at the leader of the Teen Titans before making her way out of the living room and toward the elevator.

Robin followed closely behind her, not wanting to lose the fight nor wanting to spend an evening eating questionable food. "Aw, come on, Rae," teased the teenager. "It wasn't that embarrassing! It was humorous, amusing even."

The tower's resident goth considered the options she was given: dropping Robin into the cold, cold sea or transporting him into the currently occupied kitchen and trapping him there with Starfire and Beast Boy.

"Leave me alone or I'll call Bruce and tell him about the incident with the balloon, a small child and a certain masked hero's fixation with pyrotechnics," said Raven, slowly. She pulled her hood up and turned away from Robin as she waited for the elevator to come.

Robin laughed, not taking her warning seriously. "I'm sorry. I promise that this time it will be different."

Raven turned and glared at him.

"And private. Definitely private," he quickly added.

The elevator's doors opened. Raven was about to get in when Robin suddenly walked ahead and blocked her way. He held up his right pinky finger. "I pinky promise," said the teenager with all the seriousness he could mustered, meaning there was none.

"We are not five years old, Robin," said Raven. She eyed his extended pinky then him before adding,"Well, I'm not."

Robin dropped his hand. "Rae, what can I say to make you come out with me and enjoy an edible and normal dinner without the fear of wondering what you are eating and how it would come out later?"

A crash was heard from the kitchen, followed by a female voice apologizing profusely. A black smoke started to creep into the living room and the smell of sweat and questionable cuisine invaded Raven's nostrils.

She re-evaluated her options. She did not eat anything today and the thought of Starfire's and Beast Boy's cooking did not settle well with her.

Or any time for that matter.

"No cameras?" asked Raven. She crossed her arms and glared at the boy before her.

Robin smiled, teeth showing. He held up three of his fingers from his right hand. "Scouts honor. No cameras."

"Doesn't count," replied Raven, shooting down his scouts honor. Robin playfully pouted again before lowering his hand. "No admirers?"

"No admirers."

"No kissing?"

Silence.

"Robin," said Raven, angrily. "Those are my terms."

"Well, I cannot not kiss you. You're kissable," said Robin. His grin was back on his face.

Raven sighed and pushed Robin out of her way with her powers.

Robin, making a last-ditch effort to get her out of the tower, said, "It wasn't even us kissing that made our last outing memorable. It was you falling into the water fountain trying to get away from all those paparazzi that made that night memorable. I have the tabloids to prove it."

"Do not speak of that event," said Raven through clenched teeth. She angrily pushed the elevator buttons. "I still can't believe you bought the papers and taped it all over my room."

"I still have copies."

Raven shook her head. "Definitely a bird brain," she mumbled.

"Consider them burned."

Raven just continued pushing on the buttons, willing with all her might for this stupid metal box to _finally_ move.

Robin took hold of her hand, stilling it from assaulting the elevator repeatedly. "I'm sorry about that. It was lousy of me to do what I did, but that shouldn't dictate our future engagements."

Raven rolled her eyes.

"Okay, what about this instead? I'll just order it to go and we'll eat the food in your room," suggested Robin. This conversation was not going his way at all.

Raven pulled her hand away from his grasp. After giving Robin one last glare, she opened a portal and stepped through it, leaving the male teenager all alone in the elevator.

Robin sighed and brushed back his hair. That girl is impossible. Lovable, but impossible. Suddenly, he heard her voice in his mind.

_Don't forget the garlic bread. _

Robin smiled and proceed out of the small enclosed room.

If she thinks he won't kiss her tonight, even with garlic breath, think again.


	3. Two Roads

**Two Roads **

This is Raven's story. The one that could've and would've been.

She would've arrived at Earth and met no one. No Teen Titans and especially no boy wonder.

She would've walked alone in her path of no redemption, living off the streets and fearing any living being.

She would've seen the mistreatments and the misdeeds done to those deemed lesser. The poverty and violence would color her perception of the planet she was currently on.

She would've started to see no redeeming value, no reason for her to even try to change her course of destiny. Why give attempt and hope to those who didn't even give a shit about saving their own?

In this what-if universe, there were no last minute saves and especially no heroes.

The day of her birth would arrive. Those who've heard about her and her destiny would try to defeat her, even kill her before the prophecy have a chance to come to pass.

There would be a team of teen superheroes who discovered her existence. They would've tried to stop her in the months leading up to her day of her birth. It would not work. Her father made sure of that.

She wouldn't trust anyone, let alone a team of freaks. She would not let them get close to her. She would not let them touch her. She would not let them control her.

She was already being controlled by her faith.

There would be nightmares, of course. Dreams about the horror to come, the loneliness and despair. She did not care for those emotions anymore.

Like it was said before, Earth had no redeeming value. She would've seen rape, murders, corruption and war. Babies killed and men committing horrid crimes. Women, too.

Even the team of superhero freaks had no redeeming value. They were narcissistic and ignorant. They saw her as a demon, therefore should be killed. They only see the damage done by her powers. They would not try to get to know her. They think she wants the prophecy to pass.

They were wrong. Everyone was wrong.

She would be tired. Tired of being someone's pawn. Tired of trying to see the good and the light when darkness so easily welcomes her.

She would've had no one in this what-if universe.

Her father would be right. There would be no one there to care for her. To teach her from right and wrong. To give something for her to give a damn.

She so desperately wants to see the good and the light, but the darkness is always there.

The day of her birth would come. She would've become the portal.

Sure, there were some trying to stop her.

They would fail. They all do.

She would've not care. She would've not give a damn. She would've allow her father through, without fight and without forethought. There would be nothing for her here.

She would've died and she would've taken humanity's last chance with her. Though that isn't fair.

Humanity never had a chance.

This is Raven's story.

However, this is a could've. A parallel universe of what ifs and different paths.

This what really happened.

Raven met a boy and with that boy, friends.

Her friends allowed her to be herself and gave her guidance. They teased. They had fun. They even cried. Raven knew the importance of friendship because her friends did not let her suffer alone. They experienced joy and tragedy together.

Raven saw the beauty of humanity and the ugliness of humanity. Still, she wants to save it. To know happiness, one must experience sadness and Raven _knows _sadness.

Raven knows the prophecy must come to pass. That could never be stop. However, she knows that this is not the end. She held on.

She held on as the world descended to red and black and madness.

She held on as her friends tried the impossible.

She held on as Robin, the first person she met when she arrived here on Earth, traveled to the depths of hell with the very person he despised with every fiber of his being. He faced evil just to save her.

He was the key difference between the what-if universe and this one. He made her feel. He made her be someone, her own self, and not just her father's pawn. He gave her back her identity.

He was the failsafe to the prophecy.

Her father could've not have imagine one lone human boy capturing her heart and her soul. Someone who didn't care that she is a demon and utterly different from himself. Her father could've not have seen it. Could've not of seen him.

She held on. She did the impossible. She made sure that she did not die a useless death.

In this reality, she would not go down without giving a fight.

Robin knows this, so did her friends. Beast Boy, the one who always tried to make her laugh. Starfire, her only and best female companion one could ever wished for, though do not tell her that. Cyborg, the one who always made sure she was included and acted like her big brother.

But Robin always made sure she was safe. If she wasn't, he made it so. He cared for her and she cared for him.

The prophecy did not stand a chance.

What a difference one person makes. A universe in which he was there and a universe in which he was not.

There are two roads to every situation. One must make a choice.

And, on that day, the day Raven arrived on Earth, she made a choice.

She saw the boy staring at her from across the street.

She saw his eyes.

She reached out and decided to walk beside him to the end of days.

However, it was not only her choice that faithful day. It was also the boy's. And the boy wanted to save her.

He could've stayed back at mansion with his surrogate father. He could've went out with Alfred on his day off. He could've done a bunch of other things.

But he didn't.

He doesn't care for what-ifs and could'ves, only what was done. And what was done was him meeting her and that all he cared about.

Meeting her changed his destiny as much as it changed hers.

There was never a second chance. He believes in the first, the one that matters. He wouldn't dare dream about another reality in which she wasn't in his life.

He cares about her, so much so it frightens him. He wants to see her smile. He wants to know that she is safe. He wants to be there for her.

She also wants to be there for him.

And, she is.

When Robin walked the depths of hell, she is there. He was the one who guide her out. But it was her team that allowed her to face her fears and fight her father.

She couldn't of done it without them. She especially couldn't of done it without him.

Who cares about what-ifs? She is here with them now and he is here with her now.

As it should be.


	4. Rainbow

**Rainbow**

"Richard, why the hell are you up at six am?" asked Raven as she made her way into the kitchen, rubbing and squinting her eyes. "It's a Saturday and the sun is barely up."

"I know what day it is, Raven," said Richard with a sigh, "and I have eyes." He made no motions to move from his spot, though he nodded his head in Raven's direction in acknowledgement of her arrival.

"Answer the question, Richard. I'm too tired to deal with your nonsense." Raven cleared her throat as she made her way over to the sink. Richard was currently by the window watching the thunderstorm brewing outside Wayne manor.

"Waiting for the storm to pass, I guess," he said nonchalantly.

"That is not an answer," said Raven. She got out a glass and filled it up with water before heading over to stand by the boy. "Why?"

Richard gave her a look before turning his attention back to the storm. "I want to see the rainbow."

Raven raised her eyebrows. Sensing that this was a normal occurrence, she waited patiently besides him. He'll eventually talk given time.

The two watched as the storm pelt rain and blow debris around. The wind outside provided the noise to fill the space between the two teens. It was not uncomfortable, however. The silence was comforting. It was never awkward between the two of them, not even during the period when they first met months ago, when silence was their daily conversations.

Raven took another sip. Maybe she should've offered Richard a drink? Is that something customarily done here?

As Raven pondered on her thoughts, Richard suddenly spoke up again. "I use to do this with my mother, back when I was afraid of thunder and lightning."

"You? Afraid of something? I don't believe that."

Richard shrugged. "We were all young once."

Raven nodded and again focused her attention on the storm outside. It was rare for him to speak about his parents, though he still share his past with her, even with something this personal. She have yet given him anything in return, other than the basic likes and dislikes, which Richard figured out by himself rather than her telling him. Raven was amazed he wasn't frustrated with her lack of sharing yet.

He was still a stranger to her, though no stranger would've done what he had done for her.

"What did you guys use to do?"

Richard smiled sadly as he thought back on his now deceased mother. There was silence for a bit, before he said, "We would wait out the storm. For some reason, every time there was a storm this big and this destructive, I thought that the world was going to end."

Raven paused mid-drink. "Why did you think that?"

"Silly reasons, really. I thought that the heavens were mad at me because I did something wrong."

Raven nodded. "So what did you do this time? Accidentally break something of Bruce's again?"

Richard gave a small laugh and shook his head. "That was an accident and I'm more afraid of Alfred than Bruce, if I did break something."

A flash of lightning lit the room. A couple of seconds later the sound of thunder demanded attention from the two teens.

Richard played with the hem of his shirt. Talking about his parents...it was not an easy thing to do. Still isn't. However, having Raven listen to him on the occasions he does open up, it just seems natural. It seems right, like she deserve to know about his parents.

"Thunderstorms usually paint things grey. The clouds would saturate everything, making everything dull and lifeless. Rainbows are proof that this will not last forever."

Raven gave this a thought. "So it's a beacon."

Richard gave Raven a look. "Beacon?"

"Your mom. It's her way of saying that everything will be all right."

Richard smiled. He never thought of it that way. "I guess."

"And I don't think the world would end because of some silly thunderstorm. I think humanity can take more than a little bit of water and wind," said Raven. She gave this another thought. "Not so sure on how much more."

Richard bumped Raven playfully with his shoulder. "I think humanity can withstand anything."

"Well, that's one of us."

The two silently continued watching the storm outside. Raven stifled a yawn, an action that did not go unnoticed by Richard.

"You know that this storm will not end for another day or two," Raven stated. She rubbed some tears from her eyes.

"I know," acknowledged Richard. He gave Raven another look. She is still here with him, even after that acknowledgement. Maybe she did like his company after all. However, the tiredness from her eyes, a worry that's etched into her being, suggested that she was hiding something from him. The way she clutched her cup when they spoke and the way she purposely avoided his eyes as well as her limited movements suggested something she was purposely trying not to give away. Maybe they weren't as close as he thought they were. It could also be that he was tired as well and he was reading too much into his friend.

Richard shook that thought away. Raven was more than his friend. He just wants her to trust and acknowledge that he isn't planning on going anywhere anytime soon. "Are you going back to sleep?"

Raven shook her head. "Not sleepy." She stifled another yawn.

Looking at her glass of water, Richard asked, "Have you ever try coffee?"

Raven made a face. "Too strong."

"Tea?" suggested Richard.

Raven titled her head to the side. "I don't think so."

Richard grinned. "I can make you my world famous tea! Filled with honey and milk. You would literally die from bless."

Raven rolled her eyes. "Stop being melodramatic."

"Come on, Rae! We need something to keep us up for the next day or two."

"I would not stay up for the next two days, Richard, no matter your sob story, but sure. I would love to have some of your tea."

Richard reached out to grab Raven's hand. "You will not be disappointed."

Raven allowed him to lead her away from the window and back into the kitchen's depths. She tighten her grip and gave Richard a reassuring squeeze. "I'm sure I won't be."


End file.
